Rethink Your Life! Finance, health, lifestyle, environment, philosophy |
The Work of Art and The Art of Work Kiko Denzer on Art |
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[Cob] a newbie questionAmanda Peck ap615 at hotmail.comSat Dec 13 20:38:48 CST 2003
Welcome to the list. Early sunsets are getting to me here. I don't envy you your zone 2 winters at all. Summers might be different. As far as I know ALL masonry fireplaces do store heat, which is why one of my pet peeves is fireplaces on the outside wall of a building. Rumsford style might do more than most, especially if you did the traditional thing and stacked the wood vertically against the back wall instead of using andirons. If I knew an experienced builder (and had the money!) I'd probably go with a masonry stove, with hot air passages and convoluted smoke paths. But then--I've said this before--the only thing that made a great impression on me when I read the Brothers Karamozov was one of the brothers being able climb up on the stove and go to sleep. One of Ianto Evans' heated cob benches might work for me too. Be sure and plan an outside air intake. Ken Kern--in his book on masonry stoves (available as a reprint from www.dirtcheapbuilder.com ) does approve of fireplaces, hates your standard wood stove, not to mention in-floor radiant heat. ..................... Copper Harding writes: Hi, I've read the books and the archives. I am looking to build in cold cold cold area. It is rated zone 2 or 3 for plant growth and average winter temperature is -20 F. I am familiar with living in a passive solar design in that enviro. However, cob seems to be a bit of a different issue. Here is the question: Does the back or surrounding parts of a Rumsford fireplace absorb much heat? If I placed a cob staircase at the back of the Rumsford and dropped a bunch of field stone in it for mass would that be a good choice for storing heat in a very very small cob? (and yes I am planning to insulate the walls with a inner mix heavy in straw and yes I am planning mass in my floor.) I am just very familiar with the multiple precautions that were taken with the previous passive solar home - and a few of it's weaknesses. Thanks for any help or advice you can give. _________________________________________________________________ Take advantage of our best MSN Dial-up offer of the year — six months @$9.95/month. Sign up now! http://join.msn.com/?page=dept/dialup
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